Search with small sets in presence of a liar

One unknown element of an n-element set is sought by asking if it is contained in given subsets. It is supposed that the question sets are of size at most k and all the questions are decided in advance, the choice of the next question cannot depend on previous answers. At most I of the answers can be incorrect. The minimum number of such questions is determined when the order of magnitude of k is n(alpha) with alpha < 1. The problem can be formulated as determination of the maximum sized l-error-correcting code (of length n) in which the number of ones in a given position is at most k. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.